New aurora borealis alert as ‘solar activity is definitely not over’

A new aurora borealis alert has been issued for Britain, with the possibility of the aurora phenomenon making another appearance this week. According to space weather expert and meteorologist Jim Dale, recent solar activity is far from over.

Speaking to the Express, he said: “It’s definitely not over. The geomagnetic field ebbs and flows but, clear skies permitting, there’s every chance of repeat shows in the next 10 days. It takes luck, as usual.” .

Meanwhile, Krista Hammond, a space weather forecaster at the Met Office, suggested we could see the phenomenon more frequently in the coming years, though not uniformly. She explained on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s all down to what’s known as the solar cycle of the sun. The sun has an activity cycle of about 11 years, and this is from what is known as solar minimum, which then goes to solstice. maximum and back to solar minimum And now we’re approaching solar maximum.”

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She further clarified: “What defines solar maximum is when we see the largest number of sunspots on the sun. And sunspots are what drive what we see as space weather, i.e. solar flares.”

Ms Hammond added: “As we approach solar maximum, it means that the frequency with which we see these space weather events, which cause the aurora, increases. But that doesn’t actually dictate the magnitude of those events,” reports Birmingham Live.

“What we saw last weekend was quite a unique situation. We had several bursts of plasma from the sun that also latched onto each other as they reached Earth. And then when it interacted with the Earth’s upper atmosphere, the magnetic field, we looked at it as the aurora.”

“And that coincided with clear skies and arrived overnight, so we could really see it in the south. We have obtained sightings across the UK since last weekend’s event. So while we would expect to see more of it in Space Weather Mode, whether it’s of the magnitude that allows us to see it at these southern latitudes, it’s a little more difficult to forecast.”

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